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“I was really looking for threads of continuity in Bob’s personality and level of taste, and the one thing I can say for sure in this excavation is denim,” Phillips says. Bob always wore jeans.
During pre-production, Phillips reached out to Paul O’Neill, design director of Levi’s Vintage Clothing, the sub-brand that recreates and reimagines archival designs. In 2019, O’Neill and his team developed a capsule collection based on the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene called “Folk Town,” and he actually conducted a significant amount of research into Dylan and Karen Dalton’s wardrobes. and Joan Baez (who also appears in Completely anonymousAs portrayed by Monica Barbaro). While reading Free wheel time– A memoir written by Dylan’s then-girlfriend Susie Rotolo, a version of which appears in the film as Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Russo – O’Neill revealed a fascinating sartorial tidbit: In the mid-1960s, Rotolo used to sew inverted U-shaped panels into the inseams of Dylan’s 501 clothes , which widened the edges so he could wear pants over shoes more easily. In other words, Rotolo was making jeans years before Levi started making them in 1969.
Courtesy of Levy
Courtesy of Levy
“I can remember my colleague and I exchanging high-fives when we found out,” O’Neill says. “They had Dylan experts consulting on the film, and none of them had ever heard of it or seen it,” Ariane said.
It was a lucky nugget for the costume team, not only explaining one of the idiosyncrasies of the musician’s style but also adding narrative depth to Dylan and Rotolo’s dynamic. (The real-life Rotolo also appeared on the cover of Dylan’s 1963 album, Free Bob Dylan; In that photo, Dylan himself is wearing a pair of 501s.) Once O’Neill and Phillips discovered the details about Dylan’s custom torches, they started noticing them everywhere — including on the album artwork for his fourth LP, Another side of Bob Dylan. To commemorate Completely anonymous Its fashions are produced by Levi’s Vintage Clothing Capsule set It features a version of Dylan’s custom XX 501s with hand-stitched inserts and a leather D-ring strap, as well as a toffee-colored suede work jacket based on the jacket Dylan wore during that era. The full collection will be available on the brand’s website on December 20.
in Completely anonymousDylan’s classic denim also contrasts with Baez’s modern silhouettes, which often include a Levi’s label with a white or black logo tag on the back pocket, which the company produced in the early 1960s to signify modern, youth-oriented styles. In this case, that meant more denim storytelling: Dylan, like his tailored jeans, was crafty and tough; Bayes, fresh and forward-looking.
